Judicial appointments and nominations

FILE - In this Friday, Jan. 18, 2019, file photo, anti-abortion activists protest outside of the U.S. Supreme Court, during the March for Life in Washington. The passage of abortion restrictions in Republican-led states and a corresponding push to buttress abortion rights where Democrats are in power stem from the same place: Changes in the composition of the high court. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Alabama's virtual ban on abortion is the latest and most far-reaching state law seemingly designed to prod the Supreme Court to reconsider a constitutional right it announced 46 years ago in the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. But Chief Justice John Roberts may prefer a more...

In this May 6, 2019, photo, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., greets supporters after a town hall for the American Federation of Teachers in Detroit. Harris wants to ban the importation of AR-15-style assault weapons by executive action if elected president. On May 15, she is set to detail her proposal to stop importing the weapons until the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives can analyze whether the ban should be permanent.(AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on Democratic presidential candidates and abortion (all times local): 1 p.m. Kamala Harris says she is "open" to a debate over reforming the Supreme Court. Campaigning in New Hampshire on Wednesday, the Democratic presidential candidate and California senator said she'd...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has confirmed a new federal judge in Eastern Texas, despite comments he made disparaging former President Barack Obama. Lawyer Michael Truncale was confirmed, 49-46, on Tuesday. Utah Sen. Mitt Romney was the only Republican to vote against President Donald Trump's...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Avengers: Endgame," ''Game of Thrones" and "RBG" are the top nominees heading into next month's MTV Movie & TV Awards. The network announced Tuesday that the three titles each garnered four nominations for the awards show, which will air June 17. The show will also introduce...

FILE - This April 19, 2019, file photo shows a Planned Parenthood building in Houston. A federal appeals court is about to again take up the issue of whether and how states can cut off federal Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood. Arguments are set for Tuesday, May 14. (Godofredo A Vasquez/Houston Chronicle via AP, File)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal appeals court heard arguments Tuesday on whether Texas had the right to cut off Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood clinics in the state — a case that could also determine funding for the organization in Louisiana and Mississippi and that eventually may end up before...

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the Trump administration can make asylum seekers wait in Mexico for immigration court hearings while the policy is challenged in court, handing the president a major victory, even if it proves only temporary. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of...

FILE - This Friday April 10, 2009 file photo shows Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, left, and his brother Said Bouteflika arrives at his campaign headquarters in the Hydra district of Algiers, a day after the Algerian presidential election. The influential younger brother of Algeria's former longtime president was detained Saturday May 4, 2019, for questioning along with two generals who previously ran state security agencies, a security official said. (AP Photo, File)

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — The influential brother of former Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and two generals once in charge of intelligence have been jailed while under investigation for plotting against the state, a military tribunal said Sunday. A statement from the tribunal in Blida, south...

FILE - In this Nov. 10, 2011, file photo Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas laughs while talking with other guests at The Federalist Society's 2011 Annual Dinner in Washington. Thomas is now the longest-serving member of a court that has recently gotten more conservative, putting him in a unique and potentially powerful position, and he’s said he isn’t going away anytime soon. With President Donald Trump’s nominees Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh now on the court, conservatives are firmly in control as the justices take on divisive issues such as abortion, gun control and LGBT rights.(AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Clarence Thomas has been a Supreme Court justice for nearly three decades. It may finally be his moment. Many Americans know Thomas largely from his bruising 1991 confirmation hearing, when he was accused of sexual harassment charges by former employee Anita Hill — charges he...

FILE - In this March 22, 2019, file photo, a stone painted with the word "VOTE" rests on the window sill of an art gallery in Peterborough, N.H. More than half of Americans want major changes to the system of government, including about 1 in 10 who want a complete overhaul. That’s according to a new survey by the University of Chicago Harris School for Public Policy and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research showing that dissatisfaction with the government system is closely tied with policy concerns. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

After more than two years of the Donald Trump presidency, Andrea Petrusky is ready for some fundamental changes in the way the United States government works. "Right now we're being shown all of the loopholes, the president being able to do all the things that no president should," said Petrusky, a...